Biological Weapons

Biological weapons include any organism (such as bacteria, viruses, or fungi) or toxin found in nature that can be used to kill or injure a person. The history of biological weapons starts back way before many people realize. Biological weapons have quite a few advantages and disadvantages. Biological weapons have been used as agents of terror and will continue to be used as such. Biological weapons are extremely dangerous and shouldn’t be used because they have the potential to wipe out entire populations of people.

The history of biological weapons actually started out a lot earlier than a lot of people realize. The earliest known use of biological weapons was in 600 B.C. by the Assyrians. The Assyrians contaminated the water supply of their enemies by poisoning their wells with rye ergot (“Warfare Timeline”). Also in 600 BC, Solon, a master tactician, used the purgative herb hellebore (also known as skunk cabbage) to poison the water supply during his siege of Krissa (“Warfare Timeline”). Many years later, a plague broke out in the Tartar army during its siege of Kaffa in 1346 AD. Using catapults, the Tartar army hurled the corpses of the deceased soldiers over the city walls. The plague epidemic which soon followed forced the defenders to surrender. Some historians believe that the Kaffans who escaped could have started the Black Death Pandemic which spread across Europe (“Warfare Timeline”). Even well-known military leaders like Napoleon used biological weapons. In 1797 AD, Napoleon tried to infect the people of Mantua with swamp fever during his Italian campaign (“biological warfare”). During the French and Indian War in the 18th century AD, British forces under the direction of Sir Jeffrey Amherst gave blankets that had been used by smallpox victims to the Native Americans in a plan to spread the disease (“History of Biological Warfare”). A more recent example of biological weapons was in 1995. A Japanese terrorist group, called Aum...

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Biologicalweapons are deadly materials manufactured from pathogenic organisms (viruses and bacteria) or synthetic deadly substances that are used to deliberately affect the organic procedures of a host i.e. human or animal body. These substances primary function is to kill or injure the host. Biologicalweapons can be used to harm vulnerable organisms such as humans, animals or vegetation (Biological Threats, 2013). They can also be employed to contaminate inorganic elements such as air, water and soil. There’s an array of microorganisms that can be utilized as biologicalweapons, some are more reliable based of their availability and effectiveness. The substances that are commonly chosen for biologicalweapons are highly toxic, cheap to produce and obtain, easy to disseminate, can be very discrete in many forms, or have no known vaccine (Dire, 2013). All these advantages rank biologicalweapons as some of the most dangerous weapons of mass destruction (WMD). A Weapon of Mass Destruction can be manufactured by Nations or by terrorist organizations; whoever constructs these weapons does so for specific reasons, primarily to kill, injure or contaminate people, livestock and military forces through acts...

...this essay deals with the chance of small pox being used as a biologicalweapon in the future of chemical warfare
BiologicalWeapons
The use of Small Pox in BiologicalWeapon
Mark E. Theriot, Jr.
American Military University
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This essay will explore the use and effects of small pox as a biological and chemical weapon by using five articles. These articles will show the diverse use and also different point of views of each use of small pox in different weapons throughout the world. Also looking at the affects of what small pox can do to a person and also what it can do at a wide spread area if used for genocide. This paper will show the research of numerous people and not only has what small pox done but also when it does happen what can will we do as a society. As a society we need to understand what this weapon of mass destruction to the human race can do and also look to the future of when it will be used, because it will be used.
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...Biological Warfare: Could Smallpox Become the Next BiologicalWeapon?
Desmond J. Falls
American Military University
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This Paper is a study on biologicalweapons. It will touch on how and why they are manufactured. There is an emphasis on smallpox and whether it could be used as a weapon of mass destruction by terrorist in the near future. A brief history on smallpox and how it was previously used as a biologicalweapon will be detailed, along with facts from the World Health Organization (WHO). This paper will examine the necessity for a vaccination against the smallpox disease. It will state the facts about smallpox and how it can become a menace to society and cause affect as many as a nation and go undetected until it is too late.
Could Smallpox Become the Next BiologicalWeapon?
Sometimes art imitates life, and then there are the times where life imitates the arts. In the movies the bad guys devise a plan and just before the unspeakable happens the hero comes along and saves the day. However in the real world this doesn’t always happen, there isn’t always a happy ending in a mere one-hundred and twenty minutes. Take for instance in 2001 there was a world-wide scare with the anthrax virus. Several people lost their lives. In the end a cure was found and the pandemonium calmed down. With terrorist planning...

...The United Nation’s Permanent Five (P5), with the addition of Germany, are the top exporters of arms. The United States, Russia, and the United Kingdom have specifically been involved in the most significant weapon agreements and relations. There are many agreements and treaties to control and regulate the mass amounts of weaponry traded and sold to states around the globe. Arm control agreements deal with two separate weapon regimes: weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and small arms and light weapons. It is harder to achieve agreements on small arms and light weapons than weapons of mass destruction because both sides get what they want—developed countries make a profit and developing nations modernize their defense—and states do not states do not want the possibility of mutually assured destruction so most sign WMD treaties. Both small arms treaties and weapons of mass destruction agreements have issues, such as major states not signing on or violating the treaties, but the argument here is that is it more difficult to make the former than latter.
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BiologicalWeapons: Smallpox Used as a Weapon?
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BiologicalWeapons: Smallpox Used as a Weapon?
In the last decade, members of various governmental anti-terrorism agencies and the department of homeland security in the United States have discussed the significant possibility that the Smallpox virus will reemerge as an act of bioterrorism by enemies of the United States. Major concern of this virus initially developed after the terrorist attacks employed on September 11, 2002. The following essay provides a concise lineage of historical accounts concerning the use of the Smallpox virus as an agent of warfare and an analysis of whether or not this virus should be considered a central threat to the United States if spread as a act of bioterrorism.
The Smallpox virus is not unknown to the world of warfare; however, it is imperative to mention that the Smallpox virus may not have been used as a weapon upon its first emergence. Because of this, the following essay will reveal the entire history of Smallpox—not solely the accounts of times when it was used as a weapon.
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...point where certain weapons have been banned due to their effectiveness at mass annihilation. Two of those weapons include chemical and biologicalweapons. These weapons are constructed solely to kill mass populations in the quickest amount of time as possible. Their most startling aspect is the cruelty in which lives are extinguished and brutalized. However, these two weapons are latently different. The definition of a chemical weapon is a weapon that uses any amount of toxic properties or chemical substances and that is intended to kill as an act of war. Biologicalweapons, however, are defined as the use of biological toxins or infectious agents such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi with intent to kill or incapacitate humans, animals or plants as an act of war. Chemical and biologicalweapons, although both extremely dangerous, actually have distinctive differences that define them in various different categories and levels of destruction.
The first difference that can be exposed when looking at biological and chemical weapons are their histories, their creation, and their use in society today. The first account of biological warfare dated back to 1346, when countless numbers of Tartars and Saracens were struck down by a mysterious illness that...

...Throughout time, the quest to dominate another is limited only to the imagination of one man poised against the other. From feces smeared arrows to poisonous snakes, from infected blankets to super bugs created in a lab. Sometimes common flu symptoms such as headache, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, coughing, and shortness of breath are the first signs of bioterrorism. For some reason, the more we search for answers to counter the effects of bioterrorism the worse is gets. The road to detection is not a narrow path, but a wide-open journey.
Throughout history, warriors and terrorists have used a wide range of tactics and
techniques to help defeat their enemy on and off the battlefield. These weapons of war
have evolved from throwing rocks and sticks at each other to the unthinkable weapons of
mass destruction called bioterrorism. You may ask yourself, what is bioterrorism? The
Center for Disease Control defines bioterrorism as the intentional or threatened use of bacteria, fungi, or toxins from living organisms to produce death or disease in humans, animals, or plants and involves intimidation of nations or people to accomplish political or social ends. (CDC 2005) In ancient times, archers shot arrows at their enemies that were dipped in blood from dead and decomposing bodies, while others had the feces of animals smeared onto the tips to cause severe infection after entering the body. During sea battles, the great Hannibal...

...he Impact Of War and Weapons On Humans And The Environment
Environmental Effects Of Weapons
Chemical Weapons
Approximately 19 million gallons of Agent Orange were used by the US military in southern Vietnam between 1962 and 1971. An aggressive herbicide which defoliates trees, it was used on a large scale in Vietnam’s jungles to enable US troops to spot Communist troops more easily. It eradicated around 15% of South Vietnam’s vegetation, and gave rise to serious health problems for the soldiers, civilians and local wildlife that were exposed to it. Agent Orange contains dioxin, a highly toxic substance that is still detected in the bodies of Vietnamese people today. It contaminated the soil and rivers and, through the food chain, passed into fish - a staple of the Vietnamese diet.
Apart from the serious human health effects of Agent Orange - which include cancer and birth defects - the rapid loss of vegetation that it causes leads to severe soil erosion. This contributes to a major drop in species population due to habitat degradation. High concentrations of dioxin persist in the land, and ecosystems have suffered irreversible damage.
The impact of chemical weapons dumping by the Japanese Army in China is thought to be just as severe.
BiologicalWeapons
While many of the chemicals used in war break down relatively quickly, biological...